In his letter, Mr Coburn wrote: “As a unionist, I abhor English nationalism as much as I abhor Scottish nationalism.

“The party has been infiltrated by people with an alternative agenda, which is not the one on which I stood when I was elected and sadly does not represent the values for which UKIP once stood.

“I did not run on an anti-Islam platform. Unfortunately, this seems to be the direction that UKIP is taking – obsessing about this issue to the exclusion of all else at a time when we might lose the Brexit we fought so hard for.”

He added: “It is with great sadness that after 10 years, I announce my resignation from UKIP.”

data-ad-format="auto">

Mr Coburn became UKIP’s only elected representative in Scotland when he was elected to the European Parliament in 2014.